


The Third Wheel

by bluebellsandcocklesshells



Category: Supernatural
Genre: High School AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-04
Updated: 2016-05-04
Packaged: 2018-06-06 06:27:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6743008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluebellsandcocklesshells/pseuds/bluebellsandcocklesshells





	The Third Wheel

The first time Dean went on a date with Cas, Meg tagged along.  And being the impossibly nice guy that he is, Cas wouldn’t tell Meg to buzz off.  But, it was just a trip to the arcade, and Meg was much better at the driving games than Cas, so it wasn’t so bad having some real competition.  They pooled all their tickets together at the end of the night and Meg got a cheap necklace with an angel pendant that turned her skin green, Dean got a rainbow slinky that unkinked after three uses, and Castiel got a small stuffed cartoony bee that still sat on his desk next to his laptop at home.

The second time Meg went on a date with Cas, Dean butted in his stupid, crooked nose.  They’d gone ice skating, and Dean was the one who had gotten them the discount on skates since his hockey team regularly used the rink, so she supposed she couldn’t really complain that he’d hung out with them.  But seriously, couldn’t the guy take a hint?  When she’d held Cas’ hand and asked him to help keep her steady, Dean had reached for Cas’ other hand and said that since he was the better skater, he’d help them all.  She’d had more fun than she thought she would on an ice skating date with a third wheel, but that was beside the point.  Cas kept the novelty mug the three of them had gotten their giant hot chocolate in and set his stuffed bee in it next to his laptop.

The third time Dean went on a date with Cas, Meg was there with her whiny, totally _not_ sexy voice complaining that Dean should go find somewhere else to sit in the movie theater.  Dean pointed out that it was a freaking drive-in theater and they were using _his_ car.  She’d rolled her eyes and told him they were out of popcorn.  They were, but he refused to leave her alone with Cas for even five minutes.  Who knows what she might do.  Cas kept the ticket stub from the movie and propped it up in the bee’s arms where it sat in the mug next to his laptop.

The fourth time Meg went on a date with Cas, Dean Winchester was seriously on her last nerve.  Cas had suggested they take a hike in the woods and Winchester’s stupid peanut M&M’s were why they wound up huddling anxiously in a deer stand twenty feet off the ground while a small black bear snuffled through the ground looking for any candy he had missed.  While they waited, Cas made a small circlet out of moss and dried leaves.  When they were finally able to climb down and run home, Castiel put the circlet like a crown around the bee’s head.

The fifth time Dean and Meg attempted to go on a date with Cas, there was a reckoning on the Novaks’ doorstep.  Castiel eventually got them to shut up and come inside so that they could at least fight in his bedroom rather than on his front porch where everybody could see and most definitely hear them.  Castiel sat them down on his bed, drew up the chair from his desk, and sat in front of them.  He clasped his hands in his lap.

“Now, can you two tell me what the problem is?”

They spoke over each other, loudly, and Castiel couldn’t pick out more than a couple of words.

“Wait, wait.  I can’t understand you, but I did hear the words ‘third wheel.’  I want to apologize to you both.  You don’t have to argue over how to tell me not to come along on your dates.”

Dean and Meg glanced at each other and then back at Cas.  “Hunh?”

“I went along on your dates since you both asked me to because I thought you were both nervous about being alone together.  Clearly, we’ve gotten past that stage and I’m more of a hindrance now.  So, I won’t feel bad if you don’t bring me along anymore.  You two are free to enjoy your dates without the third wheel tagging along.  Oh, and you can take the bee and the mug with the ticket and the crown…I saved them for you guys so you’d have some mementos of your first dates together.”

Cas smiled.  Then his smiled faltered as he took in the annoyed/incredulous/dark looks on Dean’s and Meg’s faces.  They both grabbed a pillow off the bed and smacked Cas in the face with them.  Cas spluttered and barely kept from falling out of his chair.  He watched in upset confusion as Dean and Meg marched for the door.

“I don’t understand!” Castiel said in distress, wondering if he had embarrassed them.  “What’s wrong?!”

“We weren’t dating _each other_ , you twit,” Meg said.

“We were dating _you_ , dude,” Dean added.

Then they walked out of his room and slammed the door.  Castiel sat in utter confusion because seriously, what the hell?  Then he thought about how each date had come to pass: how one or the other had asked him out and then he’d actually been the one who’d asked the other to join in because he’d thought…

“Oh…”

~~~

The first day back at school after realizing he’d been a colossal idiot kind of sucked for Dean.  He’d gotten a C on his biology homework and the rough draft for his English paper was bleeding red from every line.  On top of that, he hadn’t known what, if anything, to say to Castiel.  He’d seen him once, but then he’d been a wuss and ducked down a different hallway.

Now it was the end of the day and he was trying to get the combination on his locker to work and failing because he was too busy watching Castiel talk to Meg.  Castiel was smiling and Meg was shrugging and ducking her head.  Castiel put a hand on her shoulder.  Well, damn.  He gnashed his teeth as he realized that once the picture had been cleared up and he had the option, he’d chosen Meg.

Dean finally spun the locking mechanism to the right numbers in the right order and pulled the door open so hard it swung out of his grip and slammed against the other lockers.  A couple people glanced at him, but banging lockers wasn’t very exciting action in a high school.  He started exchanging his books for the ones he would need for homework that night, and then paused when he looked at the top shelf.

Sitting upon it was the novelty mug from the ice rink with the stuffed bee from the arcade inside it, wearing a crumbling crown of leaves and moss made on the deer stand and holding the drive in movie ticket along with a note that said, “I want you to have these as mementos of our first (unconventional) dates together.”

Dean stared a moment, not quite comprehending its meaning, then he turned and started when he came face to face with a Castiel that was definitely right up in his personal space.

“Hello, Dean.”

“Uh…h-hey, Cas.”

“So, um…if you want, if you’re still willing…if you ask me on a date again, I’d like it if just the two of us could go somewhere.”

“Yeah?”

Castiel nodded, and then looked down to hide his goofy smile.  When he collected himself he looked back up.  Then he stood on his tiptoes, leaned forward, and kissed Dean’s cheek.

“Maybe we could go on a segue tour.  Those only have two wheels.”

Dean laughed.  “Nerd.”

He leaned down and pressed a kiss to Cas’ lips.

A chorus of “Oooooo!” went up around them.  They pulled back and saw that everyone in the hallway was watching them with grins on their faces.  Dean flicked his hand at them.

“Alright, move along.  Show’s over.”

People chuckled and started milling about again as they prepared to go home.  Dean shut his locker and took Castiel’s hand in his while the tips of his ears burned hot.  They started to walk toward the exit and Dean nudged Cas lightly with his shoulder.

“How’d Meg take it?”

“Oh, she said she thought segue tours are stupid and that she’d like to rent a moped and drive it around like we’re in Italy.”

Dean stopped walking and gaped at him.  Was Cas just dating them separately now?  Cas smiled and tugged on his hand to get him walking again.

“I’m joking, Dean.”

“That’s not a funny joke.”

“It is from the perspective of people who can see your face.”

Dean made a face.  “Ass.”

Cas just smiled.  Dean licked his lips as he built up the courage to speak again.  He’d known Cas most of his life, but all of a sudden it nearly took his breath away when he tried to look at him.

“I-I was thinking we could go to the county fair.”

Castiel’s face lit up.  “Really?  I’d love that!  I want to see the pigs.  And the chickens.”

“Of course you do,” Dean murmured with an affectionate eye roll.  “And we can also eat junk food, ride some rides, and watch the demolition derby.”

“Sounds awesome,” Castiel said with a little wink as he borrowed Dean’s catchphrase.

“Yeah.  Also, I want to, you know, play a game and win you something.  So that, you know, you can have a memento of our first date…that you’re actually aware is a date.”

Cas laughed.  “That would make me very happy, Dean.”

“Yeah, okay,” Dean blushed.  “Okay.”

Castiel tightened his grip on his hand, and Dean forgot that there were ever more than two people in the whole world.


End file.
